Two Roads Converged in a Snowy Forest
by merlyn2
Summary: Our intrepid young adventures meet another group of Earth children who have fantastic adventures.


TWO ROADS CONVERGED IN A SNOWY FOREST.

By merlyn1.

"All right, Hank, admit it! We've been wandering in this forest for hours, and we don't know where we are!"

"Do you have any better ideas, Eric?"

"Yes. I say we turn around and head back the way we came. Preferably some place warmer. Miami, if I had my way," the Cavalier added.

"Maybe I could do something about the snow," said Presto, removing his hat and preparing to wave his hand over it.

"Forget it!" cried Eric at once. "Knowing you, we'd be in for the blizzard of the century if you tried that!"

Six children and a unicorn colt looked about the woods. Most of the trees were evergreen, with heavy layers of snow on their branches. From time to time, some of the snow would slide off the branches onto the ground in a white shower – and once on Eric's head when he made the mistake of standing too close to one of the trees and failed to raise his shield in time. He grumbled about that too.

"Judging from the sky," said Diana, "we're probably in for more snow soon. We really ought to find shelter."

"Except we haven't seen even a cottage since we came here," said Sheila. "The nearest village must be miles away."

"What else can possibly go wrong?" muttered Eric.

"Running into one of Venger's orc patrols?" suggested Presto.

"Assuming they're dumb enough to be out in this kind of weather," said Eric. He paused for a moment, as if thinking it over. "Which they probably are."

"I thought I heard something," said Sheila. "Footsteps over that way." She pointed to the right.

"I was just joking about the orcs," said Presto, his teeth chattering more from fear than from the cold this time. "Really!"

"Their footsteps sound kind of light for orcs," said Hank. "But they're still headed this way."

"And we're ready for them," said Bobby, raising his club.

"Yes," said Eric. "Ready to leave!"

"We should probably find out who it is first," said Hank. "Maybe it's just another group of travelers like us. Not everyone in this world wants to attack us."

"No, but close to ninety per cent of them do," said Eric. "And that's on a good day!"

"I don't like to say it, but he's right," said Diana, readying her javelin. "We could be in for a fight."

Hank readied his bow, though just enough to produce its energy string and not an arrow. "All right," he said. "But only if they attack us first."

"Yeah, you would say something like that, wouldn't you?" said Eric, taking another step backwards. He stumbled over a tree root that he had not noticed and landed in the snow.

The footsteps were drawing closer now, but they sounded cautious, as if whoever made them did not want to be seen. Then, around a clump of trees emerged four children, wearing heavy fur coats that seemed a few sizes too large for them.

Both groups of children tensed for a moment. The older boy among the newcomers, a dark-haired lad who looked around thirteen, raised the sword and shield he was carrying in a fighting stance, while the older girl, who seemed around twelve, notched an arrow to the bow she was carrying. Then, seeing who their opponents were, they lowered their weapons and sighed in relief.

"Sorry about that," said the dark-haired boy, speaking in a British accent. "We weren't sure who or what you were at first."

"Neither were we," said Hank, lowering his own bow. "Are you from Earth too?"

"We are," said the dark-haired boy. "You're from America, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Hank.

"Really?" said the older girl, an eager look on her face. "I'm hoping to go there some day, if Mum and Dad will let me. Is it really that exciting?"

"This isn't the right time for that, Susan," said the dark-haired boy. "Um – you wouldn't happen to have seen a lamp post anywhere about, would you?"

"A lamp post?" said Eric, who had picked himself up by now and was dusting the snow off his armor and cloak. "In the middle of a forest? Did you put something funny in your porridge this morning?"

"I know," said the British boy. "It sounds strange. It's just that – we're not sure we're in the right place."

"I still say we took a wrong turn past the coats," said Susan, speaking to the youngest of the children, a fair-haired girl of around eight. "I told you we should have gone left, Lu, not right."

The little girl paid no attention to her. Instead, she was staring at Uni with a look of excitement on her face. "Is that a unicorn?" she said, with almost a squeal.

Uni bleated eagerly and ran up to her. She began stroking its mane with delight.

"Yes, yes, it's a unicorn, Lu," said the only one of the children who had not spoken up, a sulky-looking blond boy of around ten. "You don't need to make such a fuss about it."

"Lucy, did they have four suns in Narnia the last time you were there?" said the dark-haired boy, looking at the sky.

"I don't think so, Peter," said the girl, as she continued to pet Uni.

"There!" said Susan. "I knew we'd gone the wrong way. We go back to the wardrobe, try again, and this time, we go left."

"Wardrobe?" said Hank. "Then you didn't come here on a roller-coaster ride like us?"

"No," said Peter, staring at him in astonishment.

"But if you're from Earth, you could help us get back to our world," said Diana.

"And we'd be stuck in England," said Eric before Peter or any of the other British children could say anything.

"At least we'd be stuck somewhere on Earth," said Presto. "Besides, couldn't you just get your dad to send his jet plane over and pick us up?"

"What's a jet plane?" asked Peter. The other three children with him looked equally bewildered.

"Oh, come on!" said Eric. "Just because you live on the other side of the Atlantic, you can't be that ignorant!"

"Speak for yourself!" said the blond boy. "You're the ones carrying a defective bow about. It doesn't even have a string."

"Edmund!" said Susan, speaking in a tone of voice uncannily similar to the tone Sheila used whenever telling off Bobby for something. "Remember your manners."

"Actually, it does," said Hank. He pulled back on his bow, producing its energy string and arrow once again. All four of the children stared at it in astonishment.

"All right, so maybe it's not defective," said Edmund. "Where did you get it?"

"Dungeon Master gave it to me," said Hank.

"Who?"

"This annoying little guy in a red robe," said Eric. "If you haven't met him – or listened to all that riddling talk of his – you haven't missed anything."

"We received our weapons from a man in a red robe as well," said Peter. "Although he was somewhat taller than this – um - Dungeon Master of yours."

"He was Father Christmas," put in Lucy.

"Oh, sure," said Eric. "And I received this suit of armor from the Easter Bunny."

"Eric, you don't need to keep on being rude," said Diana. "What's wrong with you?"

"I can't stand Brits!" replied the Cavalier. "They're too stuck up and putting on airs and always looking down their noses on everyone else!"

The other five pupils all stared at Eric for a few moments; even Uni forgot about Lucy stroking her mane long enough to give an astonished bleat. After an awkward silence, Hank turned back to the four British children. "We're sorry about Eric. We wish we could say that he's not always like that, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be true."

"We've got a cousin in Cambridge who's kind of like that," said Peter. In a lower voice, he added, "And between you and me, sometimes Edmund can be trying as well."

"Hey!" shouted Edmund. "I heard that!"

"Since you don't seem to know anything about Narnia," said Susan, "perhaps we should be on our way."

"All right," said Hank. "Have a safe journey, all of you."

"You as well," said Peter, shaking hands with him.

The four children turned and walked off into the woods, though Lucy glanced back to wave good-bye to Uni, who bleated affectionately at her. They disappeared into the trees.

"I still think they're out of their minds," said Eric.

"They didn't seem that crazy," said Sheila.

"Come on, think about it!" Eric replied. "If they had any sense, they'd be trying to get back home, even if it _is_ in England. And instead, what are they doing? Trying to find this Blarnia place. Next thing you know, they'll be settling down in it!"

"Like when you almost married the Queen of Zinn?" asked Diana with a smile.

"As a matter of fact," said Eric, "if anyone gave that lot an offer to become kings and queens in that crazy world, they'd probably accept it."

THE END.

DISCLAIMER: The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon is formerly property of TSR and Marvel Entertainment, and now property of whoever owns the rights to it. The Chronicles of Narnia is property of the estate of C. S. Lewis. I've taken some liberties with the order of events in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" for the needs of the story. And my thanks go to Kryschenn for her "Nine and Six", which helped inspire this tale of the six young ones encountering the brainchildren of another of the Inklings.


End file.
